Semistiff collar



Patented Apr. 19, 1949 SEMISTIFF COLLAR Dorman McBurney, Newburgh, N.

Y., assignor to E. I. du Pont de-Nemours & Company, Wilmington, Del.,

a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application April 20, 1945, SerialNo. 589,458

5 Claims. 1

This invention relates to wearing apparel of the type adapted to belaundered, and more particularly to wearing apparel such as shirts,collars, cuffs, plaits, and the like, as forming part of such wearingapparel.

There are several types of fabric garments manufactured according to thepresent state oi the art, as for example, those which are manufacturedand worn in the untreated state, that is, the collars and cuffs have nostiifening agent;- those having collars and cuifs and similar exposedportions stiflfened with a temporary stilfening agent such as starch;those having collar and cuif units stiffened by partialparchmentization, by means of suitable reagents, and those in whichother interlinings are used as stifleners. Certain cellulose derivativecoated fabrics have also been proposed as stiffening interlinings incollars and cuifs. Garments in which the component fabrics of thecollars and cuffs are laminated by means of certain cellulose derivativecompositions have also been made and fabrics coated with thermoplasticsynthetic resin compositions have been proposed as the stiifeninginteriiners.

Of the various types mentioned, none is entirely satisfactory,especially garments which are made of untreated fabrics, because theysoil quickly and wrinkle easily. The starched type,

while presenting a very satisfactory initial appearance, is sensitive tospotting by water and soon becomes wilted and wrinkled especially inwarm weather. Collars and cufis of multi-ply constructions, the fabricsof which are laminated and stiffened by partially parchmentizing thefabrics with acid, present the disadvantage of lowered tensile strengthand consequent unsatisfactory wearing qualities. In the case of thewearing apparel having the pre-stiifened interlinings with starch, forexample, the treatment is efi'ective only until the'flrst launderingwhich removes the starch. While the collar or cuif can, of course, bere-stiflened by treatment with starch, it does not retain its appearancefor any length of time, particularly in summer weather. Where certaincellulose derivative coated fabric interlinings are used, the result ismuch better, but is not entirely satisfactory because of the tendencyfor the coating to disintegrate and disappear and often to discolor whenthe garment is subjected to strenuous laundering. The same conditionprevails with respect to collars and ends in which the component fabricsare laminated directly by means of the common cellulose derivativecom-positions. The synthetic resin coated fabrics are the closestapproach to a sat- 2 isfactory interlining but in order to obtain thedesired stiffness in the finished collar, it is necess-ary to employ arelatively stiff coating which results in a coated fabric not readilyadapted to collar fabrication.

This invention has as an object the provision of wearing apparel havingsemi-still collars, cuffs and the like which are non-wrinkling, readilycleanable by washing or dry cleaning, and capable of retaining theirshape after laundering without being subjected to a subsequentstiifening operation.

A further object is the provision of a two-ply or multi-ply collar orcuff and the like'which upon repeated laundering and pressings, will notshow stitch pucker."

A still further object is the production of collars which will resistdistorting influences and will tend to resume their original appearancewhen the distorting force is removed.

A further object is the proviison of a method of preparing a relativelysoft coated interlining fabric for semi-stiff collars which can bereadily turned and fabricated into collars, and after fusing, willresult in a relatively stiif laminated assembly.

The objects of this invention are accomplished by applying a coating ofa vinyl chloride resin composition to both sides of a fabric base inwhich the polyvinyl chloride is present in an ungelatinized or onlypartially gelatinized state together with plasticizer and, if desired,pigments and other coloring matter. The coated fabric is then fusedbetween two plies of uneoated fabric by means of heat and pressure toform a firmly bonded laminated assembly. In case of a two ply assemblythe coating is applied to one side only and the cloth folded upon itselfwith the coated side forming the inside of the fold, and the uncoatedside the outside of the fold, and the two plies are fused by theapplication of heat and pressure.

The method of fabricating collars by bonding the plies with a resin iswell known in the art as described in U. S. Patent 2,083,199 and afurther detailed description does not appear to be necessary herein,except to say that the interliner of relatively coarse weave is coatedon one or both sides as described hereinafter and is then cut to shapeas usual and stitched to the front and back face plies on threesides-the side to be attached to the shirt is not stitched. The assemblyis then turned inside out and fused before or after sewing it to theshirt.

The following examples are given by way of illustration and notlimitation:

Example I Parts Aqueous dispersion of polyvinyl chloride resin (35.0%resin) 71.2 Titanium dioxide pigment extended on barytes base ground indioctyl phthalate in the ratio of 1:1 26.2 Dioctyl phthalate 2.6

The above ingredients were thoroughly kneaded until homogeneous and then3.5 parts of a 20% aqueous solution of aluminum sulfate were added whichformed a mushy mass. Then 9.3 parts of V. M. 8: P. gasoline were addedand the kneading continued until a. heavy, dough-like mass was obtained.Approximately 89% of the water present separated from the mass and wasdrained off. The dough-like mass was then applied on each side of thefabric as described above. employing a conventional doctor knife coatinghead and passing through a drying chamber after each successive coat.The temperature in the drying chamber was approximately 240 F. and therate of coating was approximately 20 yards per minute. The heat in thedrying chamber was sufficient to cause the polyvinyle chloridedough-like coating to fuse partially or coalesce to such a. point thatthe composition would not powder oil. the fabric. On the other hand itwas fused insuihciently to form a continuous film which would be stiffand boardy.

The coated fabric as described above was relatively soft and adapted tofabrication of semistiff collars. The coated fabric is then stitched totwo layers of broadcloth and turned inside out after which the plies arefused by pressing for 30 seconds at 340 F. The collar was satisfactorywith respect to feel and adhesion of the piles.

Example II A laminated assembly similar to that described in Example Iwas prepared using the following composition formulated as describedbelow:

Parts Dry copolymer of 95 parts of vinyl chloride and parts of vinylacetate 40.0 Dibutyl cellosolve phthalate 10.0

Titanium pigment extended on a barium sulfate base 2.6 Solvent mixture60.0

1 Solvent mixture: Parts ethyl ethyl L-etrmp 75.0 Ethyl alcohol 25.0

for coating. The composition was of relatively thick and smoothconsistency having the appearance of mayonnaise except for color. Thecomposition was then spread on each side of a fabric and in a manner ofthat described in Example I. The coated fabric was soft and pliable andeasily used in making semi-stiff collars as described above. The coatedinterliner was then fused to two outer plies of broadcloth by pressingat a temperature of 320 F. for 30 seconds. A pull of 11 lbs. on a Scotttensile strength tester was necessary to separate test plies made inthis manner. The laminated assembly had just the correct degree ofstiffness to make a very satisfactory seml-stiff collar.

Methods of preparing the coating compositions other-than described inExamples I and 11 may be employed, such as, e. g., dispersing drypowdered polyvinyl chloride of a particle size of .01 to 5.0 microns inthe plasticizer without the aid of solvents. In such methods it issometimes desirable to incorporate non-solvents for the resin such as,e. g., ethyl alcohol with the resinplasticizer mixture to facilitate thespreading of the coating mass on the fabric. Also, it sometimes isdesirable to incorporate small proportions of wetting agents such as, e.g.. sulfated methyl oleate.

The resin-plasticizer mixture should also have considerable cohesion.This may be provided in part by having the resin particles in anextremely finely divided condition. Measurements of the particle size ofthe resins in the aqueous dispersions in the examples by an electronmicroscope photograph show them to be'spheres of the order of .05 micronin diameter with only a small degree of agglomeration. In the preferredembodiment of the invention the ultimate unagglomerated particle size ofthe resin in the aqueous dispersions should be less than about 5 micronsand preferably less than about .1 or .5 micron in diameter with littleagglomeration so that no settling takes place.

It is generally preferred to add one or more plasticizers, and toincorporate suitable pigments, fillers, and coloring matter to producethe desired color. The kind and amount of plasticizer, pigment, fillerand coloring matter to be added will depend upon the desired degree ofplasticization, cost, and color effect desired, and such will beapparent to those skilled in the art in preparing resin coatingcompositions. Such properties as oil absorption and bulking value willinfluence the selection of pigments and fillers to be employed inpracticing this invention. Usually compositions containing less thanone-third as much solvent plasticizer as resin are of little commercialimportance since they are difficult to fuse at ironing temperatures anddo not form a strong bond by ironing; on the other hand, thosecontaining more than three times as much plasticizer as resin are toothermoplastic for collars and may even cause discoloration. Examples ofplasticizers which have been found suitable include esters, such asphthalates, sebacates, adipates, oleates, ricinoleates, fumarates, andorganic phosphates. Stabilizing material may also be added if requiredsuch as for example phenoxy propylene oxide, lead silicate and leadcarbonate.

While straight chain aliphatic hydrocarbons are generally satisfactoryas a diluent, other volatile liquids having no appreciable solventaction on the resin and miscible with the plasticizer may be used, suchas, e. g., toluol, xylene,

ethyl alcohol, butyl alcohol and other lower aliphatic alcohols.

The vinyl halide resins which may be used for practicing the inventionare the polymers of the vinyl halides and their copolymers with otherpolymerizable substances, which copolymers have a vinyl halide contentof more than 50% by weight. The invention is most useful in respect tothe more insoluble grades of such polymers and copolymers in which thevinyl halide content is 75% or more by weight. A preferred type of vinylhalide resin is the copolymer of vinyl chloride with diethyl fumarate orother lower saturated alcohol (less than 4 carbon atoms) alkyl esters ofvinylene dicarboxylic acids, e. g., methyl fumarate, maleate, etc. Otherexamples of the copolymers of vinyl chloride are compounds having thegroup H;C=C/

such as vinyl esters, vinyl ethers, vinyl ketones, acrylic acid,alkacrylic acid, haloacrylic acid; esters and nitriles of such acrylicacids; ethylenic acids, such as maleic, fumeric, and itaconic acid andtheir esters: and vinylidene chloride and other vinylidene halides.Vinyl halide copolymers of other unsaturated compounds may also be used,for example, copolymer-s with olefins and halogenated olefins, such asethylene and trichloroethylene; and dienes and halodienes, such asbutadiene, isoprene, and chloroprene. In fact as far as has beendetermined the invention is adapted to the use of any polymer made bypolymerizing an emulsion of the monomers, provided it is in suflicientlyfinely divided form and is not afiected by the plasticizer at ordinarytemperatures other than by a slight swelling eflect but which coalescestherewith at higher temperatures to form a tough, homogeneous durablehim. For the sake of simplicity such polymers are re-- ferred to asvinyl chloride resins or vinyl chloride copolymers.

It is apparent that many widely different embodiments of this inventionmay be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, andtherefore, it is not intended to be limited except as indicated in theappended claims.

I claim:

1. The process of preparing semi-stiff collars which comprises coatingan inter-lining fabric with a thermoplastic composition containing apolyvinyl chloride resin and a plasticizer in the amount of from to 8times the weight of the resin, the said composition having a dough-likeconsistency, heating the coated fabric to about 240 F. until thecomposition is partially but incompletely fused and discontinuous,sewing the coated interliner to a face and back ply, turning theassembly inside out and pressing the collar at about 340 F. until theresin is fused and the plies flrmlybonded together.

2. The process of claim 1 in which the vinyl resin composition consistsof copolymer of about 95 parts of vinyl chloride and 5 parts of vinylacetate.

3. The process of claim 1 in which the vinyl resin is a copolymer ofabout 95 parts vinylchloride and 5 parts diethyl fumarate.

4. The process of claim 1 in whichthe polyvinyl chloride has a particlesize of from about .01 to 5.0 microns in diameter.

5. The process of making semi-stiff collars which comprises coating ableached cotton fab ric weighing about 3.57 yards per pound per 46% in.width having a thread count of about 80 per inch in warp and filler withtwo coats of a composition having approximately the following formula:

Parts Aqueous dispersion of polyvinyl chloride resin containing 35.0%resin 71.2 Titanium dioxide pigment ground in dloctyl phthalate in theratio of 1:1 26.2 Dioctyl phthalate 2.6

heating the coated fabric to about 240 F. until the coating is partiallybut not completely fused and is still discontinuous, stitching thecoated interliner to a face and back ply on three sides. turning thecollar inside out so that the interliner lies between the face and backply and subsequently bonding the three plies together by press 7 ing forabout 20 seconds at about 320 F.

DORMAN' McBURNEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STA'I'ES PATENTS

